Just placed an order with Ideal Poultry

[duckncover]

I just ordered 2 mallard drakes, 2 silver lace wyandotte(sp?) pullets and 4 assorted standard pullets. The ducklings are going to be mine to raise and keep, the wyandottes are for a friend, and the 4 assorted pullets I will enjoy raising up a little and then probably sell them.

Here's my review of ideal:
I really have to give Ideal Poultry credit. I've been buying from them for years. I'm a city farmer and I usually just raised birds up and finds them good pet homes we're they'll be appreciated. It's kind of a hobby I guess. That being I don't think I've ever spend more than $38 with shipping on my birds. I almost always order a mix of ducklings and chicks. From my experience with them I have never had a dead on arrival, and out of the maybe 6 or 7 orders I placed I only lost one "warming chick" They are good with their customer service and even though their birds aren't show quality they are so beautiful and look just like the pictures. None of my ducks or chickens from them ever got sick while I had them yet either. I love them! It's literately the only hatchery that you can get the exact breed you want and not spend a fortune. Oh that and they offer everything almost yearround. <3

Oh and how long do you're chicks usually take to arrive after you get notice they've been shipped? Mine only took a day last time. Is this the normal? I forgot, haha.

 

[RareDuck]

There are many breeds of chickens and ducks their website says are not available till spring of 2014. I have Black Sex links that came from them and they are all thriving. They will be 6 weeks on Tuesday. I got the exact number I paid for and they arrived in 2 days.

 

[duckncover]

I got them! The post office called at 6:30am simultaneously to my alarm going off! Weird right? Well we got there and the lady seemed concerned that they were thristy and I explained that heat is more important right now because they might still have a bit of egg yolk left to live off of. They are all alive and look in good shape. I dipped everyones beak in water. I seperated the ducklings from the chicks, The ducklings have a heating pad and the chicks have a bulb. But I also have a space heater running. I'm pretty sure there is 12 packing peanuts. I will try to find them homes today. I remembered everything except to put napkins down for them, lol.

 

[RareDuck]

They are adorable. I had mallards many years ago. I have 5 15 week old ducks that are supposed to be Silver Welsh Harlequin. Four are drakes and only 1 is a duck. They came from Cackle. Two dont have blue on their wings like they are supposed to. They have brown instead. They are cream with brown markings (1 male and the female). The other 3 males have green heads like mallards. I am getting Khaki females since I wanted ducks for eggs. It was a mistake to get straight run and a lot of them died in the first 3 weeks. Your baby chicks are so cute I would find it hard to part with any of them. How do you know which are the assorted pullets?

 

[duckncover]

I had difficultly parting with the pullets because I wanted to keep them. But I have no space for a standard size chicken,.The colored ones are pullets and the others are Rhode Island Red males. I sold the 6 pullets for $20 to my one friend. I'm probably going to end up giving away the 12 males. I really only made an order for the 2 mallard ducklings. Unfortunately I live in the city and although I got my zoning officer to let me have ducks and chickens he told me to not leave them outside unattended and I can keep them. I guess I have to respect that because he wouldn't budge on the matter for years. So that means everything I own has to live IN my house. They live in my bedroom but my mom allows them full roam of the house if they have a poultry diaper on. I make sure to take them out everyday for some exercise and to forge. That cuts down on the feed bill and plus my yard is full of earth worms, snails, salamanders, and slugs. If it were my choice I'd have a flock of bantam chickens and ducks outside. But for right now I am mostly content with my Pidgey and the 2 new drake babies. I named them Webster and Ferdinan. They have settled in nicely. I have the 10 gallon tank with heating pad on my bed so they can stay near me while I sleep and hopefully bond through the glass. I probably won't be able to take them outside until spring unless we have another freak nice day.